Month: March 2018

This is a simple post about helping Moms, new Moms, creative and Non-creative Moms understand, how you can get alittle organized beforehand and make beautiful memories while your little one enjoys spending that special time with you.

I’ve been a craft artist for nearly two decades. I love crafting. It is not only my passion, but it also completes me.

“Crafts” is a tiny term which encompasses a whole range of activities. Unfortunately most of us, tend to associate it with painting or drawing or probably alittle bit of cutting. But that’s not necessarily all that there’s to it.

I’ve taught in a couple of schools but several prestigious art institutes. I’ve held Mother & Toddler classes, Workshop for ladies and classes for youngsters as well.

Today, in this post, I will address one concern that most moms have echoed over the years to me, how they find themselves all over the place when it comes to having some craft time with the kids.

There are 4 things, I’d like for you to remember before we address the craft dilemma :-

Please hold your ‘fun craft time’ – as a time to explore new activities TOGETHER. It is a time when you actually MAKE MEMORIES – its supposed to be FUN. Not a task.

Please know, that NO ART WORK is ever “COMPLETE OR PERFECT” – it is ALL in THE PROCESS.

Please remember, appreciate your child’s effort, no matter how tiny. He is trying to please YOU as well.

Long after they have grown, they will still cherish these priceless moments. So don’t try to work on making it “Perfect”. Remember, “its the imperfection that adds character.”

Moms who have toddlers in their troublesome twos, realize that children need various activities besides toys, to keep them stimulated. Hence in a desperate attempt to help the little one, they grab the first craft kit that they come across in the supermarket aisle. However, I agree that most craft kits are aimed at a specific activity and supplies are really limited.

I’m going to advise you on how you can ease the process of crafting with your toddler/little one.

Please remember, children are not just visual learners. They learn by touch, feel, smell, sight, sound and THE PROCESS !

For the first 5 years of their life, they are still getting the hang of the hand and eye coordination – gross motor skills.

They are virtually charged 10 hours of the day to play, practice and have fun. Thru it all, they are LEARNING.

Adapting to their environment and understanding their own movements.

Let us consider a routine scenario.

Our young first-time-Mum watches this youtube video about 5 easy crafts to try out with little Sarah. (point2 addressed) [Google and Youtube videos ‘can be” a new Mom’s best friend since they can guide you tremendously around the process of crafting with kids]

She thinks its easy enough to try it out with her little one. She rushes to the nearest Toy store and searches high & low for a craft kit for toddlers ! {point3 – this mom had the strength and enthusiasm to drive to the Toy store. Full marks to her but (point4) not all of us drive or have a store close by, hence we can buy online as well } Refer here

Realization – most crafts kits are aimed at children older than 5 years !! Heaps of toys are available – but not craft kits !

FYI – one of the reasons for this is that alot of craft supplies have small objects which can cause choking hazard for little ones and companies do not want to risk getting into such waters.

Ofcourse you can opt out and buy one of those ridiculously expensive painting kits with sponges and fancy brushes (Point 5 is valid and real) But then of course, Mom can splurge over little Sarah.

So Mom buys it and brings it at home – 2 days of fun and mess later, chances are a few of the brushes ‘may’ have gone missing under the sofa, the paint tub is all but nearly over and our little Sarah has decided, she’s had enough of Mona Lisa. (point6) Most little children have a short attention span. Give them easy crafts to work with. They may work with one painting but once its over, they need something different.

This is where little Sarah is restless and Mom is getting frustrated too as her she realizes these craft activities are probably not her cup of tea !!

THIS IS WHERE I STEP IN !! Don’t fret and fume Mama. Read on …. there is relief for you.

We’re going to assemble the ULTIMATE ART AND CRAFT BOX for you so that every time, you want to try out an activity with your child, all you have to do is, spread the ‘drip sheet’ on your table or work space and get the supplies you need, out and voila ! Start your crafting adventure !! You never know – you might discover you really like crafts 🙂

First thing – Chances are, you might already be having a plastic box, bucket, basket or a large container at home. Its best if it could be large and preferably with a lid. In fact, the large transparent bin with wheels from IKEA is most ideal for this purpose. Here are a few options :

Here are some of the most basic supplies :-

I highly encourage little children who are still developing their gross motor skills to use crayons or color pencils rather than colored markers.

Please remember, a scribble made by a 2 year old, might be an entire story from his imagination. Hence please appreciate it and ask him/her questions relating to that. See how his/her eyes sparkle as he describes 3 stories from one picture !!

Avoid buying large A3 size drawing books becoz children tend to use only a partial amount of space. Infact, I keep photocopier sheets handy, which can later be framed or placed in protector sleeves and hung up on the fridge or their study desks.

Don’t underestimate the importance of the humble rubberband. Also remember to pack a few of the large black paper clips.

Alot of crafts ask for pipecleaners too. From acting as the stem of a flower, to the antenae of a butterfly, pipecleaners/chenille have plenty of uses.

Several crafts require drinking straws. They are colorful, they are easy to manipulate and children associate blowing air or making bubbles with them.

Long after the clothes have been dried, these clothespin will be super handy in the craft box. From the body of an insect to decorating a recycled jam jar, there are endless uses of this innovative creation. An absolute Must-have for our craft box.

Styrofoam balls come in various sizes. Apart from the easy snow man, you will find several sites full of ideas on how to use these, creatively.

Below, you will find tiny sparkling stars in packets, pipecleaners which are plain and sparkly, styrofoam balls, childproof scissors and glitter tubes. I would definitely include all of these EXCEPT GLITTER tubes. They are a highly messy idea and I would prefer the children to be atleast 6 years old before they get their hands on glitter.

I absolutely LOVE this bumper kit. You could buy the items individually or just add 2 packets of these in our craft box and Voila ! Tip – These could be included as return gifts for birthday parties too !!

If you are not able to get crepe paper, the below tissue gift wrap paper will do the trick just as well. Most crafts for tiny toddlers revolves around tearing bits of pieces of these sheets and sticking it to various items.

I don’t think, any craft kit can be complete without a Sharpie marker. Although the below marker is NOT a sharpie, I think, it might do the job ! Traditionally these are alcohol based hence you can use these to draw on plastic and metal.

The value pack with 25 pieces is ideal. It is always advisable to use the thicker paint brushes for children. Don’t expect little fingers to hold tiny brushes. These kits with sponge faces are also fun for little ones. Just drop alittle paint in a paper plate and dab the sponge for endless hours of fun !!

These alphabet stampers are good when you want kindergarten children to practice remembering their alphabets OR sounds. It takes the stress off, from having to write. But they are optional.

Every mothers nightmare is the aftermath of an art and craft activity – This drop sheet should be able to solve that issue, Mom !

Just spread it on the table or floor and use the spring clamp (in the below picture) to hold it tight to an object, alternatively, you can use the white and blue striped sheet rolls, available in supermarkets. They too are efficient.One fun item I would include would have to be these Ketchup dispenser bottles.

Use ? – You can find several recipes for puffy paint and these bottles are perfect for squeezing the paint and designing with.

Here are some more tips.

A glue gun is a handy tool (almost an essential item for every Crafter) . However, it can be introduced to children once they are over 10 or 11 years of age.

When working with little children, use only paper masking tape. Not the plastic kind.

Please don’t buy the plastic scissors for toddlers. It practically NEVER works.

If you want to know which is the best brand for erasers and sharpners, kindly subscribe to my blog for the next post which will have details on various brands.

Over the years, I have realized, aprons don’t help all that much. It inhibits their movement and if anything, the plastic rubbing against eachother is a bother to most kids. Just get them dressed in one of your husband’s old Tshirts !

Red, blue and yellow are primary colors, inorder to attain any other color, you just have to mix, any two of these two colors. So you don’t need a dozen tubs of colors. A few will do.

I have compiled this list considering almost all homes have paper staplers and paper punches !

So there you have it !

All the pictures in this post were taken at Dollar Plus. *However please note, this post is not in affiliation with them. I am NOT being compensated by ANY Dollar store for this post.

When I share my experience or any information with you over here – it is done purely to help, moms, teachers, crafters, students and people who don’t have the time or energy to research these avenues. I have NOTHING to gain from it except perhaps some appreciation from people who leave kind words of gratitude in the comments.

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Dollar stores have been sprawling all over the US and Canada for several decades. England has its own version as the Pound store and I am sure, the rest of the world too has them.

Here in Dubai, we’ve been spoiled for choices at the numerous 10 dhs – 20 dhs stores and Day to Day stores.

We even have a Japanese counterpart ‘Daiso’ providing most items at dhs 7.

Let me tell you 26 years back, when I landed in Dubai for the first time, these exact stores offered 1,2 and 5 dhs items. Infact you still might find a few of them in certain pockets of Sharjah and Ajman.

A “certain class” of people tend to have a biased view about their products, looking down upon them as cheap Chinese goods. However, I believe that is a blanket statement that just does NOT apply. Some of the items you find here, are really good quality and some are far from it. But I would not generalize it.

For the longest time, I used to pick bulk goods from these stores for filling “return gift bags” for my children’s birthday parties. (from Kindergarten to grade 5 !!)

Infact I remember, I used to add note pads, pencil cases, little stuffies or toy cars and some cupcakes or juice packets for valentines days for all my boys’ classmates till they completed Primary schooling, alternating the items with puzzles, popup books, coloring books, stickers, rubic cube, etc as they grew older.

When you have to pack, 70 – 80 bags, one has to be wiser with the penny and the pound ! For years, my sons’ friends looked forward to these bags. Once secondary school began, everybody had such tech-related needs !!

Finally a few years back, Dollar Plus opened its doors at Madina Mall.

My next blog post will also be related to the Dollar store but it will be focused around the creative aspect of what appeals to a Crafter in a Dollar store.

I am very excited to share plenty of tips and ideas of how and what to make use of, at the store. Please be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my blog, lest you don’t miss that post.

PS. I am NOT being reimbursed by ANY Dollar store for this post.

When I share my experience or any information with you over here – it is done purely to help, moms, teachers, crafters, students and people who don’t have the time or energy to research for these avenues. I have NOTHING to gain from it except perhaps some appreciation from people who leave kind words of gratitude in the comments.

Thank you for visiting me today. Have a lovely day and be sure to subscribe to my blog (top right column)and my instagram here.